GARDEN lovers from all over Wiltshire were in Devizes at the weekend to see beautiful outside spaces created by green fingered home owners.

 

The Garden Open weekend organised by Devizes In Bloom and chairman Zena Robson was delighted with the result.

 

She said: "The 18 gardens that were open over the weekend attracted visitors from all over the country and some from farther afield. There were also Devizes' residents who declared they didn't realise some part of the town existed."

 

Ms Robson, who toured the gardens of all shapes and sizes, was called up to give gardening advice on her travels. She said: "On Saturday, the weather played ball and the gardens were very busy with people chatting to owners and enjoying tea and cake in some.

 

"One of the big questions in a particular garden was how to stop snails and slugs from scoffing Hostas. The answer was to choose only those Hostas that have tough, ridged leaves making them less palatable.

 

"On Sunday, in spite of the weather later in the afternoon, gardens were still busy and receiving visitors who came prepared for whatever the weather might throw at them."

 

One of the gardens that got people talking was that owned by David Billett in Broadleas Park. He was taking part for the first time but created a bit of a buzz by including 300 red woolly pompoms in his garden and calling it The Pompom Tea Gardens.

 

He said: "Over 20 pompom makers helped to make it happen."

 

Ms Robson was delighted with the care an attention that all of the gardeners had taken ready for the viewings. She said: "Visiting the gardens to take photographs for our presentation evening in October was a joy.

 

"Every garden looked splendid and it was obvious that owners had gone to a great deal of trouble to get everything looking good.

 

"The maps were selling out and had to be replenished several times on both days which meant that our visitor numbers were very healthy. As yet, we do not know the total that we have raised for the mayor’s charities as the money will be taken in over this week."

 

A big thank you to everyone involved – to the committee who coordinated all the preparations prior to opening, to the outlets that sold maps for us, to Cathy Stockwell at the Town Hall for all her computer skills, to all the people who opened their gardens and to everyone who came along to support them."